I want to write some stuff while it's fresh in my mind.

Iraqi insurgents are just as worthy of a fair trial as American prisoners of war should be.

As I write this I can hear my parents and a neighbor upstairs talking about politics and current events, and it's making me flustered. I wasn't eavesdropping until the subject changed to 'insurgent imprisonment' in Guantanamo Bay. I heard them all agreeing to the fact that "they don't deserve a fair trial because they're out there killing our troops."

I've got problems with that statement. I'm  no "bleeding heart" liberal member of Amnesty International that believes that everyone should be forgiven, regardless of their offense - even though that's what Jesus would do. Almost nobody feels that way. I believe in accountability for one's actions. I believe in integrity.

But denying a captured insurgent the right to a fair trial is just wrong. You're pissed off that this person may have ended the lives of valiant American soldiers that died in the "heat of battle" to "defend their country". I'm sorry. This kind of thing happens; This is war.

Here's where my problems start. Look at their side of the situation: We're a bunch of foreigners that, in the name of "peace", and "good will", decided it would be a great idea to hop on over and to rearrange political affairs and situations to our liking. In doing so we introduced a whole lot of instability and ill will towards ourselves - and the situation still hasn't improved. We've turned Iraq from an undesirable place to live into a chaotic hellhole. What if another country had done that to us? What if a country with more military power had just decided (and on faulty intelligence, no less) that they were gonna march in and switch shit around because they didn't like how our leaders ran things? Would we not have a reason to fight back against invaders, regardless of their motives?

Imagine that something like that actually happened. Imagine that a more powerful nation came to ours, and started shooting people that tried to resist their 'supreme authority'. Let's say that one of those people was you (Assuming you're a patriot and love your country). And let's say that they outnumber you, capture you, and transport you to some strange island off the coast of Australia. Here, they torture you - nothing more than a lone rebel - to get information about some 'terrorist network' that you've never heard of.

Does that sound fair to you? I'll bet that if you ever became a Prisoner of War, you'd want that trial.

The insurgents aren't Americans, but you can't deny their humanity. I was taught to love my fellow man, no matter what their sin was, and they fall under the category of 'fellow man'. Even the terrorists - the people whose only goal is to kill as many American infidels as they can - are human beings. They have a faith that is radically different than many of our own, and they follow it with a remarkable level of zeal. And why? Because it's what they believe to be right. People rarely act in the name of simple evil.

No, I don't think the real terrorists should be let off the hook. If you kill somebody, then you should be punished accordingly. But you shouldn't be punished without a fair trial. We have no right to pass judgment on someone without proof - because we can't prove that they did anything wrong.

As for the men and women that are captured for simply rising against: what right do we have, as fellow human beings, to punish somebody for simply being patriotic? Again, picture this is you being punished. One day, you wake up and take a stand against foreign invaders like any "God-Fearing American" would. And they capture you, take you away, and kill you. Why? Because you stood up for your right to be free and your right to live in the country of your choice.

How evil would these invaders seem to your family?

These people aren't animals. They aren't a country of feral dogs that was writhing in pools of misery and waiting for Democracy and Capitalism to come and save them from their own filth. They're human, and they can think and feel for themselves. There's no reason for us to lower our standards in the name of protecting peace and freedom. If anything, we're doing the exact opposite. We're putting a double-standard on human life.

Iraqi insurgents are just as worthy of a fair trial as American prisoners of war should be.